Ars Technica - Why on-disc downloadable content isnít the crime itís made out to be.So let's all settle down. Just because a portion of a game disc is locked away as DLC doesn't mean you're getting ripped off. Both games and DLC are still value propositions that have to be judged on their own merits, regardless of whether they're available on disc from day one or not. You're not entitled to free content just because it's on the disc, or because it's taking away from what "should" have been in the core game. Don't like it? Don't buy it!

<pedant>Actually, there were a number of shareware games that released on CD that let you play the shareware but to get the rest of the game - which was on the CD - you had to call up the company to get a serial number.

I remember iD did this with Quake. The CD was $5 and included the shareware version of Quake. It had all their shareware games - Wolf3D, Doom, Doom2 (demo), Heretic, Hexen - on that CD. You could play the shareware but you had to call 1-800-ID-Games to get an unlock key to unlock the full version of the game, which was already on the disc.

Needless to say, there were tools available on the net which would generate the serials for you without the hassle of the phone call. ;-)

Prez wrote on Oct 12, 2012, 19:36:Well it mattered enough for Dude to write an article about it, hence the discussion. Rarity doesn't generally preclude discussion of whether it's a sound practice or not.

To posit a counterfactual, it might be it merited an article not because it was happening frequently, but that people were incensed about it enough to make such an assessment worthwhile to publish (not to mention, in having a somewhat controversial opinion, it generates clicks).

The worst part of this is that if you do vote with your wallet and not buy a game that has on-disc DLC do the developers look at the poor sales figures and say "Well on-disc DLC doesn't work"?NO!!!They start pissin' and moanin' and playing the "piracy" card.

Mordecai Walfish wrote on Oct 12, 2012, 18:04:I think we have the same opportunity with Disc-Locked DLC, and I as well will think twice before supporting any game that blatantly ships with completed content locked on the disc.

You assume the direction is toward more of it, rather than less, something that I might argue is erroneous.

Persistent-Connection DRM used to be "incredibly rare" as well, but it took a beating by gamers in forums just like this and became a topic of mostly reviled hatred in the community thus limiting it's roll-out in many ways.

I think we have the same opportunity with Disc-Locked DLC, and I as well will think twice before supporting any game that blatantly ships with completed content locked on the disc.

PHJF wrote on Oct 12, 2012, 17:49:And here's another example of a DLC fuckup. I'm playing Borderlands 2. I didn't preorder, because I'm not a dolt. Therefore I don't have the mechromancer (nevermind the soldier, carbon copied from borderlands 1, should have been DLC, and the mechro in the game to begin with).

Suddenly I'm finding mechromancer items in my game. So now instead of a 25% chance to find a class artifact I can actually use, I now have a 20% chance and then a 20% extra chance to find an item completely fucking useless to me. Thanks a fucking lot, Gearbox.

Fortunately for you, they are now selling the mechromancer DLC separately which includes essentially ALL the preorder "exclusives" like that magic find rare relic, and the extra golden keys, etc. The only thing it doesn't include is some skins.

And here's another example of a DLC fuckup. I'm playing Borderlands 2. I didn't preorder, because I'm not a dolt. Therefore I don't have the mechromancer (nevermind the soldier, carbon copied from borderlands 1, should have been DLC, and the mechro in the game to begin with).

Suddenly I'm finding mechromancer items in my game. So now instead of a 25% chance to find a class artifact I can actually use, I now have a 20% chance and then a 20% extra chance to find an item completely fucking useless to me. Thanks a fucking lot, Gearbox.

For me, it's a bit of a mixed bag, and I admit I'm more on the side of the publishers than most here. I find it particularly scuzzy that developers hide what's more or less vital parts of the game behind a paywall, but other things (like cosmetic items) I'm not as concerned about.

What the major problem is is the fact that games, like most other forms of media, fairly closely follow the monopolistic competition model for pricing. If a game simply has more content, they can't get away with charging more than their competition - if you need a certain average sales price to break even or get a market rate of return that's higher than the going MSRP, you're going to have to go the DLC route.

Ultimately, you'd think the publishers would figure out a cleaner way of making the break so as not to offend the consumer, but a disorganized rush to complete the game might result in such a mistake as Capcom has now done on multiple occasions. (I know they blame Microsoft's DLC rules on the 360 for why they do it, but they could always tell MS to go pound sand and whine for them to break their own rules - wouldn't be the first time a major publisher has gotten Microsoft to change policies as they go.)

Ozmodan wrote on Oct 12, 2012, 16:00:If they put it on the disk, it is yours. I have NEVER paid for any DLC, there are always easy ways to unlock it. Find it hard to believe anyone can construe that is in any way criminal. They sold me the disk it is on. It is mine.

Did you do this with shareware discs in the 90s?Did you do this with Quake, which was distributed on a CD for ~$3 as a shareware version with the full version on the disc, able to be unlocked for $40 if you called a phone number?

"I paid for the disc, it's mine!"

That's a terrible comparison. Shareware was free to download/share, and when it was put on a disc the price being charged was putting it on a disc. You weren't actually paying for any content.

What he said was "If they put it on the disk, it is yours."But fine, what about what companies like Adobe did in the 90s? Often a company sold a software suite that was very complimentary, such as PhotoShop and After Effects or whathaveyou. They'd just put it all on to one CD. You paid for what you used. Bought one program? Great, here's a CD. It has all of them, because it's easier for us to distribute that way. You get the serial for one. Want another? Just buy the serial, you already have the software!

Ozmodan wrote on Oct 12, 2012, 16:00:If they put it on the disk, it is yours. I have NEVER paid for any DLC, there are always easy ways to unlock it. Find it hard to believe anyone can construe that is in any way criminal. They sold me the disk it is on. It is mine.

Did you do this with shareware discs in the 90s?Did you do this with Quake, which was distributed on a CD for ~$3 as a shareware version with the full version on the disc, able to be unlocked for $40 if you called a phone number?

"I paid for the disc, it's mine!"

That's a terrible comparison. Shareware was free to download/share, and when it was put on a disc the price being charged was putting it on a disc. You weren't actually paying for any content.

Did you do this with shareware discs in the 90s?Did you do this with Quake, which was distributed on a CD for ~$3 as a shareware version with the full version on the disc, able to be unlocked for $40 if you called a phone number?

We weren't paying $60 for shareware discs. With the general lack of content current games are shipping with (for whatever reason), I consistently feel like I'm being asked to pay more for less. DLC of any kind is usually no more than salt in my wounds.

That wasn't his argument.

But yeah, you are being asked to pay more for less. Game devs are being asked to spend more for the same amount. There's an inevitable break there somewhere.

If you don't think a game is worthwhile due to the DLC - don't buy it. Simple. I'll continue ignoring almost all DLC and still enjoying my games. I'll continue not buying the DLC that I think is worthless, which is almost all of it. But, Fallout 3 arguments aside, I've never felt like what I was given with my purchase was incomplete.

Did you do this with shareware discs in the 90s?Did you do this with Quake, which was distributed on a CD for ~$3 as a shareware version with the full version on the disc, able to be unlocked for $40 if you called a phone number?

We weren't paying $60 for shareware discs. With the general lack of content current games are shipping with (for whatever reason), I consistently feel like I'm being asked to pay more for less. DLC of any kind is usually no more than salt in my wounds.

Ozmodan wrote on Oct 12, 2012, 16:00:If they put it on the disk, it is yours. I have NEVER paid for any DLC, there are always easy ways to unlock it. Find it hard to believe anyone can construe that is in any way criminal. They sold me the disk it is on. It is mine.

Did you do this with shareware discs in the 90s?Did you do this with Quake, which was distributed on a CD for ~$3 as a shareware version with the full version on the disc, able to be unlocked for $40 if you called a phone number?

If they put it on the disk, it is yours, you paid for it. I have NEVER paid for any DLC, there are always easy ways to unlock it. Find it hard to believe anyone can construe that is in any way criminal. They sold me the disk it is on. It is mine.